Thomas Sikkema is this year's recipient of the David Johnson Memorial Scholarship.supplied

Brain cancer -- could there be a diagnosis more frightening to a high school junior?

For Thomas Sikkema, of Hudsonville, the dread disease turned out to be treatable, but it came at a time when it affected his senior year of high school and interrupted his involvement in baseball.

His perseverance earned him the award named for another Hudsonville High School student, David Johnson, who's life was cut short by a malignant brain tumor.

Sikkema was playing baseball for the school's championship team last spring. He began to notice double vision , then depression, lack of concentration and disrupted sleep, His normally high grades began to slip, and he was lethargic. Tests revealed a tumor on his pineal gland, lodged deep in the brain. On the morning of May 16 of last year, he underwent a spinal tap to determine if the tumor was malignant, but still made it to the Hudsonville-Rockford game at Hudsonville, where teammates had displayed his jersey on the field and in the dugout.

"God planned this with me in mind," Thomas said in an earlier interview. "I just kind of faced it, accepted it. It's there. It won't go away until they either cut me open or give me chemo or radiation or God performs a miracle. My dad and I have been saying, 'It is what it is.'" Sikkema is deeply religious and said his faith gives him strength. "I don't know what I would do without my church family, God and all the people supporting me," he said.

"Most of the time, when you hear about people getting brain tumors, it's really depressing and it's sad. I'm going to beat it with happiness."

The rare cancer was treated with chemicals and radiation. Thomas missed three weeks of school in spring 2013 and started radiation at the beginning of his senior year. "We tried to schedule my treatments for after school so I didn't miss much school," he said. "A lot of the time I didn't feel good from the side effects of the radiation so I would stay home some days." Still, he maintains the treatment didn't have much effect on his studies.

"I never really thought I wouldn't graduate from my class," said Thomas. "Last spring when I was diagnosed, I kind of knew I would be back with my class at the beginning of the year. I knew I would play baseball this spring , too. When I put my mind on something, I do everything to achieve it. I think I'm a pretty tough kid. My drive to be back was definitely a positive thing that made me that much more motivated to be healthy and back to my normal schedule."

Such determination is also a consideration for the scholarship.

Thomas was chosen by school counselors to receive the David Johnson Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship remembers David Johnson, who died July 19, 1989, shortly before his 16th birthday. The Hudsonville High School student struggled for two-and-a-half years with an inoperable brain tumor. He would have graduated in 1992. The scholarship was established by his parents, Doug and Margo Johnson, of Jamestown Township, to honor other students who "have struggled with adversity, demonstrated courage, and inspired caring," according to the Johnsons. Graduating seniors from all three high schools in Hudsonville are considered.

As of Nov. 20, 2013, Thomas has been in remission and will have routine check-ups for the next five years. If MRIs and spinal taps are clear, he will be considered cured.

Thomas' experience has awakened an interest in childhood cancer. He suggested and helped organize and promote a baseball/softball tournament through Milan's Miracle Fund to benefit DeVos Children's Hospital.

"After graduation, I plan on attending Grand Valley State University to become a pediatric nurse," he said. "When I graduate from college, I would like to work up at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. In the meantime I will still be on the board for Milan's Miracle Fund and I hope to volunteer with other events regarding pediatric cancer."